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The old ie ‘I’ll try’
Every letter, she thought, every single letterout, whisper and rustle and roll like thunder Then she began to read
At the third sentence the tin soldier sat bolt upright Meggie saw him out of the corner of her eye For a moment she almost lost the thread of the story, stumbled over a word and re-read it After that she dared not look at the little soldier again – until Fenoglio put his hand on her arone!’
He was right The bed was elio squeezed her arm so hard that it hurt ‘You truly are a little enchantress!’ he whispered ‘And I didn’t do so badly myself, did I? No, definitely not’ He looked with soers Then he clapped his hands and danced round the cragie’s bed again he was rather breathless ‘You and I are about to prepare a most unpleasant surprise for Capricorn!’ he whispered, a s in every one of his wrinkles ‘I’ll set to work at once! Oh yes, he’ll get what he wants: you’ll read the Shadow out of the book for hiuarantee that! I, Fenoglio, master of words, enchanter in ink, sorcerer on paper I made Capricorn and I shall destroy him as if he’d never existed – which I have to admit would have been better! Poor Capricorn! He’ll be no better off than the ician who conjured up a flower maiden for his nephew Do you know that story?’
Meggie was staring at the place where the tin soldier had been She missed him ‘No,’ she muttered ‘What flower maiden?’
‘It’s a very old story I’ll tell you the short version The long one is better, but it will soon be light Well – there was once a ician called Gwydyon who had a nephew He loved his nephew better than anything in the world, but histo tell that part now Anyway, she cursed hiician’s heart –sad and lonely for ever? No Was he not a ician? So he shut hiic for three days and three nights and made a woman out of flowers – the flowers of oak and broom and meadoeet, to be precise There was never a more beautiful woman in the world, and Gwydyon’s nephew fell in love with her at first sight But Blodeuedd, for that was her na She fell in love with another ician’s nephew’
‘Blodeuedd!’ Meggie savoured the name like an exotic fruit ‘How sad What happened to her? Did the ician kill her too as a punishment?’
‘No Gwydyon turned her into an owl, and to this day all owls sound like a weeping woman’
‘That’s beautiful! Sad and beautiful,’ ie Why were sad stories often so beautiful? It was different in real life ‘Right, so now I know the story of the flower maiden,’ she said ‘But what does it have to do with Capricorn?’
‘The point is that Blodeuedd didn’t do as expected of her And that’s our own plan: your voice and my words, beautiful, brand-neords, will see to it that Capricorn’s Shadow does not do what’s expected of hilio looked as pleased as a tortoise who has found a fresh lettuce leaf somewhere entirely unexpected
‘Then what exactly is he to do?’
Fenoglio wrinkled his brow His satisfaction was all gone ‘I’ his forehead ‘In here It takes time’
Voices were raised outside – ie slipped quickly off her bed and ran to the openShe heard footsteps, rapid, stu footsteps – and then shots She leaned out of theso far that she al The noise seemed to come from the square outside the church
‘Careful!’ whispered Fenoglio, grasping her shoulders More shots were heard Capricorn’s ry and excited – oh, why couldn’t she lio, her eyes full of fear Perhaps he had been able to understand so – words, na, but it certainly wasn’t your father,’ he soothed her ‘He wouldn’t be crazy enough to creep into Capricorn’s house at night!’ Gently, he drew her back froain as if nothing had happened
Her heart beating fast, Meggie went back to bed Fenoglio helped her up